The York neighborhood plan still under review

Proposed changes to the York neighborhood plan are still being reviewed by planning staff and the Planning Commission. Deciding what to do regarding the neighborhood plan remains a hard task to accomplish.

At the City of Bellingham Planning and Development meeting on May 27, the commission, city planners, York residents and property owners came together again to further discuss the proposed amendments to the York Neighborhood Plan.
The meeting included continued discussion about the proposed amendments that affect different areas throughout the York neighborhood.

“Area 9”, the area of most controversy

The most controversial changes up for consideration are to the area referred to as Area 9, an area which is designated on the York Neighborhood Zoning Map. This area starts past Gladstone Street along Ellis until Lakeway Drive and then continues again on the other side of Lakeway along Franklin Street until Edward Street. According to the zoning map, this area is now currently referred as a multi-family residential zone.
Submitted proposal changes to neighborhood plans can be reviewed on an annual review basis and adopted as part of the city’s comprehensive plan. According to the Planning and Community Development Department’s website, the York Neighborhood Association submitted their proposal letter in 2008.
Due to the lack of staff, the plan amendments for the York neighborhood were put on hold. Starting in January 2010, staff were assigned to the proposal and the amendment process began.

The proposed changes

There are a number of proposed changes to areas throughout but the changes to the neighborhood plan that will change this area in particular the most are the suggested changes to the density. The neighborhood is hoping that the density in Area 9 be reduced from 1,000 square feet per unit to 3,000 square feet per unit.
York Neighborhood Association President, Anne Mackie, said that some have the desire to replace the historic housing in that area with apartment buildings or offices. Mackie does not feel that the city has embraced the historic district of the neighborhood, which half of Ellis Street properties now falls under.

Impact on the neighborhood

The suggested density changes would prevent lot combinations and the potential demolishing of existing historic housing, according to Mackie in an article in the spring 2010 edition of The Yorker Newsletter.
In regards to the potential changes to the density requirements in the area, Mackie said, “Three thousand is still considered high density, it just isn’t as high.”
According to the City of Bellingham’s website, a majority of the houses built in the York neighborhood were built between 1890 and 1910. To change the density in Area 9 would make it harder for apartment or office buildings to be built where these existing historical houses are now and it would limit the number of units that would be allowed on a lot.

The city finds itself torn

The goal of the city is to create a plan for the York neighborhood that works with the city’s comprehensive plan, said Chris Koch, city planner assigned to the York neighborhood plan.
Under the City of Bellingham’s comprehensive plan, conflicting issues make it difficult for the city to come to a conclusion on the amendments to Area 9, in particular.
Koch said, there are contradictory statements within the city’s comprehensive plan that make it difficult for the city to come to an easy decision.
Within the city’s comprehensive plan, the conflicting goals that have to be considered are the idea to direct growth to the city and urban areas and the goal to preserve older neighborhood’s heritage, like the historical houses that are along Ellis Street.

There are two sides to every story; those for the proposed changes

The original proposals that the York neighborhood submitted to the city kept with the city’s comprehensive plan, said Mackie. She added, that the neighborhood’s original proposals accommodated infill growth, promoted reduced vehicle use and protected the character of the neighborhood in the preservation of historic housing.
Now that York residents have been working on these amendments for many months now, Mackie said, “I feel that the Planning Department [staff] has proposed things that are far removed from the concepts the York neighborhood originally envisioned.”
Mackie added, “We are not at all in agreement with elements of the staff proposal. Some of the proposals, now, should require public notification and additional public meetings.”
“We [the supporting residents of the neighborhood] and the minority of [opposing] property owners have distinctly different motivations,” said Mackie.
In regards to part of Ellis Street belonging to the National Historic District, Mackie said, it does mean there is any protection from the demolition of housing in that area.
“A local historic district would have protection and perhaps in the future we will become a local historic district,” said Mackie.

Some property owners on Ellis among those who oppose

Cal Leenstra, a John L. Scott real estate agent and owner of 4 contiguous lots along Ellis Street, said, “The proposed down zone would significantly reduce the value of my property.”
Leenstra said, he thinks zoning in this area should stay the way it is. “Ellis Street is unlike the interior of the York neighborhood because it is along a busy arterial.” He does not feel that area is suited for owner occupied single family housing.
According to Leenstra, the city had spent thousands of dollars and hours on professional studies, which concluded that high density residential zoning is best for Area 9.
“Nothing has changed since then, expect that traffic had become even heavier, which thereby reinforces the original conclusions of the study,” said Leenstra.
What Leenstra feels perfectly describes Area 9, is the first principal of the Growth Management Act. He said, “We aren’t necessarily for change right now but the GMA concentrates on development where urban services and urban infrastructure already exists.”
“This [area] is an ideal area for future multi-family housing and it can be done in a way that would be complimentary to the neighborhood,” said Leenstra.

An on-going issue, so, what happens now?

At the meeting on May 27, the YNA proposed a work group be created to continue working on a consensus for this area of the neighborhood. According to Mackie, this work group would consist of various stakeholders from all groups involved in this issue.
“Opposing property owners represent a minority of the owners on Ellis Street. Most do not live there, they are in the rental industry and this is about their ability to maximize profits,” said Mackie.
Mackie added, “The remaining property owners on Ellis Street and the YNA are proposing the rezone as a mechanism to assure a certain level of quality of life and historic preservation of our neighborhood.”
According to Koch, planning staff are now trying to put together this group of stakeholders, to see if any progress can be made on specific recommendations for Area 9 before the issue returns to commission.
Koch believes that this stakeholder meeting will be held sometime around the week of June 14.

Can a decision be made, regarding “Area 9”?

The Planning Commission does not have the final say on proposals presented to them. The commission will pass on recommendations to the City Council and the Council will make the final decision.
According to Mackie, the proposals for the York neighborhood plan will likely to make it to Council sometime this coming fall.
“I’m not sure what the city will decide but if they adhere to the principal concepts of the GMA, they would vote to leave the zoning as it is,” said Leenstra. He worries that, “Any other conclusion [made by the city] would be the result of political and not the result of concern for the greater good of the entire city.” Which he added, “I do not think [that] should be compromised.”
One potential option mentioned at the May 27 meeting, is that the commission will recommend to City Council to leave off any amendments to Area 9 from the York Neighborhood plan.
If that is the outcome, Mackie said, “We will continue working on expanding the historic district designation to the west side of Area 9 and into Area 4 and a section of Area 5 [south of Lakeway].”
Leenstra said that property owners opposing the plan amendments have testified at city meetings, attended neighborhood meetings and have written letters to the city. It is likely that if this issue continues, these opposing property owners will continue to keep getting their voices heard.

City hopes

At the May 27, Planning and Development meeting, after hours of discussing the York plan, tired commission members, planning staff and residents came to an agreement that more time was needed before the commission would pass on their recommendation to City Council.
The neighborhood and all involved members need more time to do work and narrow down the options. There are two very opposed sides and the pros and cons need to be looked at.
A Planning Commission work session is scheduled for August 12, 2010. Written public comments are still accepted; however the public meeting process regarding the York neighborhood plan amendments has been closed.
“We need both [sides] to be as happy as possible,” said a Planning Commission member at the end of the May 27 meeting. “It is hard to do, half will be mad, half will be ok. These are two groups that will never come together.”

I-5 on-ramp construction still a go

Construction plans to extend the Interstate-5 southbound on-ramp at Lakeway Drive, led York residents to speak out and request a safety and sound wall also be built at the time of construction. Construction is scheduled to start this coming summer.
Neighborhood residents have been working night and day, for the past few months, to get their concerns heard by the Washington State Department of Transportation and the City.
According to Lisa Anderson, York Neighborhood Association Treasurer, in the Spring 2010 edition of The Yorker, on April 26, residents took their concerns and requests to the City Council meeting. Residents voiced their concern for those who live close to the area of construction and requested a delay in order to give the neighborhood and the WSDOT more time to work something out.
Their request was denied. Construction will begin as scheduled.
The WSDOT has agreed, however, to install a guardrail and jersey barriers along the on-ramp. The length of the barriers has not yet been determined. The WSDOT have also agreed to install some plants along the Humboldt Street retaining wall, which will help reduce graffiti in that area.
At this point, construction is still out for a bid and no exact plans have been finalized.
Residents plan on continuing to work with the WSDOT, in hopes that a larger, full-length wall be built in the future.

For more information regarding this issue and possible ways of getting involved, please check out the following links:
The York Neighborhood Association website (to view the Spring 2010 edition of The Yorker or contact information for board members in order to get involved)

The Washington State Department of Transportation website – Bellingham Ramp Reconstruction Project

“Reconstruction of I-5 On-Ramp Affects Residents”

City Council considers licensing rental units

City Council is looking at what other cities have done in regards to rental units and considering options for Bellingham.

At the Bellingham City Council meeting on Monday May 24, council members were briefed about licensing and requiring inspections of rental units.
However, this was not the first time the issue was presented to council. According to the City Council Agenda for the meeting, in 2008, council members requested research to be done on licensing and inspection programs in other cities.
The results from the research, done on Sacramento, California, were presented and discussed. According to the agenda, council members also reviewed the new Washington state law regulating rental inspections and they also discussed possible policy options for a Bellingham ordinance.

Why require licensing and inspection?

Bellingham resident, Dick Conoboy, said “[We] are asking the city government to do something we feel is necessary,” in regards to why rental units should be licensed as the businesses they are.
Conoboy adds, “We are of the opinion that there are a large number of rentals in poor condition and we are looking at what other cities have done. Why should Bellingham be any different [from them]?”

What would this mean for tenants and landlords?

According to a proposed report done by Mark Gardner for the May 24 council meeting, licensing fees would be put in place and that money would help go to costs for inspection on rental units, according to an article regarding the issue in the Western Front written by Katherine Garvey.
It would seem likely that the additional fee would then be included in rents that would then be raised.

The York connection

Licensing and requiring inspection of rental units will affect Bellingham as a whole. Some York residents have come out in support for it.
“We want to help clean up the slums and help with basic fire and safety concerns,” said Anne Mackie, York Neighborhood Association president.
Mackie said, many houses in Bellingham are sub-standard, old houses with a majority of them being rented by students. Some of which, those same students are afraid to report any problems they may come across.
Rental residents, not just those who are students, need protection from those landlords who are not doing their job, added Mackie.
All landlords would be licensed and inspected.

Help from students

A student club at Western Washington University called Viking Community Builders held a forum on Monday May 17, discussing rental licensing of units in Bellingham.
According to the University Communications website, the forum discussed both sides of the issue and looked at the benefits and consequences of licensing rental units.
The Viking Community Builders club was created to help bring awareness to students on issues that might affect them and also to help strengthen ties with the Bellingham community.
Also, the Associated Students Legislative Affairs Council (AS LAC) is a committee at WWU that works with legislative issues, such as this current rental licensing issue.
Morgan Holmgren, Associated Students Vice-President for Governmental Affairs, said, the committee has held several meetings where the issue has been discussed and a resolution had been written and approved by the LAC. At the June 2 meeting, the written resolution was given to the Associated Students Board of Directors for approval.
The AS Board of Directors did approve the proposed resolution.
Holmgren said, “We are hoping to see a well designed licensing program get enacted in Bellingham that would limit the costs to landlords and tenants.” He added, “We also are hoping to see the city council adopt a licensing program while ensuring that it does not lead to the city enforcing the “rule of three”.”
The LAC also would like to see that the licensing program include an educational element for tenants about the landlord-tenant law.

What happens now?

Now university students and neighborhoods are involved and ready to take action, it is up to the city to do something about rental units in Bellingham.
According to City Council Agenda from the follow-up meeting on Monday May 24, council members gave direction to staff to schedule a committee work session regarding the issue. The work session is to be held on a later date.
Council will continue to assess what to do and keep evaluating what other cities have done, according to Mackie.
“We are citizens working behind the scenes, working with neighborhood associations and with students to get something done,” said Conoboy. “Lots of different things are going on right now.”
“Bellingham’s culture is funky, old crummy housing and we need to bring it up to [a higher] standard,” said Mackie. “I’m tired of looking at it.”

Updates concerning the neighborhood plan

At the Bellingham City Planning and Development meeting on April 22, York residents voiced their approval and disapproval for the suggested changes to the York Neighborhood Plan. These changes include preservation of the neighborhood’s historical characteristics, the protection of open spaces and the most controversial issue, rezoning the area of the neighborhood along Ellis Street.
The Planning Commission directed staff to do some additional work and research regarding the amendments to the plan and what options the City has available. Since the public meeting, the staff has revised some of the changes and has tried to create a neighborhood plan that works best for the city, overall.
On May 19, starting at 6 p.m., the York Neighborhood Association is having a general neighborhood meeting at the Garden Street Methodist Church, in which any updates concerning the neighborhood plan and the continuing planning process will be discussed.
On Thursday May 27 at 7 p.m., there will be an additional public meeting at City Hall to further discuss the York neighborhood plan and what needs to be done.


For more information on this topic, please check out the following links:
The York Neighborhood Association website
The City of Bellingham website - Planning and Development Department
"Changes suggested for the York neighborhood plan stir emotions"

Sunny days makes neighborhood park the place to be

Residents worked with the Parks and Recreation Department to help improve Franklin Park and make it an inviting place for everyone.

In an effort to create more open space in an extremely residential neighborhood, York residents worked with the Parks and Recreation Department to renovate and make improvements to Franklin Park, bordered by Franklin, Grant and Whatcom Streets.

The idea behind renovating

Franklin Elementary School used to sit where Franklin Park is today. The school was torn down over thirty years ago and all that was left behind was the old playground.
“Consisting of a chain link fence, a few trees, an out of date playground area and a basketball court you could easily trip and sprain your ankle on,” said Helen Jackson, York resident and coordinator of the Franklin Park Improvement Committee within the York Neighborhood Association.
Jonathan Schilk, Landscape Architect with the Parks and Recreation Department, said “We had begun planning to replace the playground equipment in 2005. Then the York neighborhood decided more was needed to improve park function.”

Neighborhood action

Jackson wanted to be on a committee with others in the neighborhood, to help work on improving the park. And so the Franklin Park Improvement Committee was created. According to Jackson, the committee consisted of about eleven members, all of who were different ages and who had lived in the neighborhood for different amounts of time.
The committee and the neighborhood started working on the natural area that lies on the hillside above the park because of legal concerns, neighborhood residents could not work directly on the park itself, said Jackson.
According to Jackson and the City of Bellingham’s website, this area is in the Franklin Street Right of Way. A road cannot pass through this right of way because Chuckanut sandstone is on the hillside and it is not stable enough to build on, Jackson said. “So we took over the area and worked on fixing it,” said Jackson.
Thousands of hours were spent clearing out the area, planting native plants, and adding a trail, steps and trail signs. The same was done to an island of land near the edge of the park, where blackberries had completely taken over.
“[And] Where homeless people would get drunk and pass out,” said Jackson. “It used to be scary to walk along the streets that surround the island because you never knew who would be in there.”

Improving the park

According to Schilk, work on the actual park done by Faber Brothers Construction Company, Inc. began on July 17, 2009 and ended November 13, 2009.
Prior to doing any of the work, the Franklin Park Improvement Committee worked with Schilk, to help plan out the work to be done.
According to Jackson, the neighborhood also asked for help from the Loving Space Daycare on Ellis Street. They asked for kids from the daycare to go around to other parks in the area and see what they like and would want in the new park.
The committee, with the help from some Western Washington University students, also conducted two surveys throughout York to see what residents would like to see in the park, added Jackson.
According to Jackson and the City of Bellingham’s website, the existing fence was removed, paths around the park were constructed, new sod and plants were planted, a picnic area, benches, trash cans and bike racks were added, lighting and drainage improvements were done, the basketball court was resurfaced and updated and the playground was replaced and updated.


Once the work was completed, the neighborhood had a huge opening celebration for the park. “We had a parade and a juggler and the Squalicum High School band came,” said Jackson. “It was a lot of fun and turned out to be a nice day for November.”

Funding for the work

When it came to the budget, “We had to sit down and make a priority list and see what the costs would be,” said Jackson.
The Neighborhood Initiative Program Grant for $150,000 became available and the neighborhood applied for and received the grant. According to the City’s website, funding for replacing the playground had already been budgeting for.
The neighborhood was awarded another grant and now had $450,000, which was the estimated total cost of construction, available to them to use on work to the park, according to the City of Bellingham’s website.
Once the construction was completed, the total cost of renovation and improvements to Franklin Park was $415,526, according to the City’s website.

Donations were also made

According to Jackson, a year into the process of starting the renovation, the Parks and Recreation Department came to the neighborhood committee. The department told them that a family who had lost their son to cancer wanted to donate a skateboard feature to a park.
“I guess no other parks wanted a skate feature but I took the idea to the committee and surprisingly, everyone voted unanimously yes for it,” said Jackson.
The skate park-like feature was added to the park and $1,000 was also donated by the family to the YNA for any plants or anything for the grand opening party, said Jackson.

Park impact

Franklin Park is one of only two parks in the York neighborhood. “The park is like our neighborhood community center,” said Jackson. “We wanted something that could be used year round.”
Jackson added, “The other park [Rock Hill Park] was worked on by the neighborhood, too but it is kind of hidden and much smaller than this one.”
Having a park helps give residents an area throughout the neighborhood to go and spend time. “All different people use the park, people of all ages,” said Jackson. However, the park is not only for York, it is also part of the Sehome neighborhood, and is open to any Bellingham residents.
“Before there were some people at the park, at the playground but nothing like this,” said Jackson. “Now it is constant.”
Resident of the York neighborhood, Vincent Kisena, said, “I never came before, maybe a couple of times prior to the renovation but it was dingy.”
He adds, the sidewalk paths around the outside of the park are his favorite part. “The girls get to ride around and it makes you want to use that part [of the park] more,” said Kisena.
According to Jackson, with the work that has been done, it has also helped to lower illegal activity from taking place.
The above hillside was an area for drugs, according to Jackson, but not so much now. “It is more open now and kids are playing below,” said Jackson.

Continuing work

The neighborhood and committee will continue to work on the park and surrounding area of the hillside and island of land.
“We will continue fine tuning the area and adding more plants,” said Jackson.
The committee holds work parties every second Saturday of every month, except for December and January, to work on anything that needs to be done. On Earth Day every year, the committee also works with Western Washington University students, to do work around the park, according to Jackson.
“With some work, you can really make a difference in your neighborhood,” said Jackson.

Reconstruction of I-5 On-Ramp Affects Residents

Extending the southbound on-ramp at Lakeway Drive is causing neighborhood residents to speak out and voice their concerns.

In an effort to reduce hazards caused by increasing traffic along Interstate-5 at the on-ramp of exit 253 at Lakeway Drive, the York neighborhood is requesting that a safety and sound wall be built along with the future construction of extending the on-ramp.

Neighborhood wishes

On April 3, the York Neighborhood Association proposed eight conditions to the Bellingham City Council and Transportation Commission that they hoped would be agreed on before construction would begin.
The neighborhood’s eight conditions were outlined on a York Neighborhood Association board meeting agenda. Some of the eight conditions included, conducting research for a full-sized wall, completing a full noise evaluation, planting full-sized evergreen trees, ensuring regularly done maintenance by the Washington State Department of Transportation to their property including having graffiti removed, considering using new sound reducing materials be used, and having the city declare the southbound ramp a non-truck route.
“In the big picture, we asked them to stop the construction but we didn’t think they would stop,” said Lisa Anderson, Treasurer of the York Neighborhood Association. “We didn’t want to sit on our hands, we asked to get attention.”
Bellingham native and York resident of four years, Chris Wolf said, “Now they [the city] know what the neighborhood wants, we’ve been very vocal. But it is up to them to decide if they’ll put the safety wall up or not.”

The impact on the neighborhood

Residents near I-5 and the southbound ramp have grown accustomed to the noise created by driving cars at 70 miles per hour.
“We have lived here for 15 years now and my husband and I have become adapted to it [the noise],” Anderson said.
Other neighbors in the area feel the same. Wolf, an active gardener, said, “It is hard to be outside and enjoy your yard when it is so loud all the time.”
According to Wolf, there is a tie between her biggest concerns about this stretch of the freeway. The tie is between the noise and safety.
“It is not so much safety for myself but for others who walk on that side of the street, walking their dogs,” Wolf said. “It would be terrible for a car to fall on someone off the freeway.”
In fact, cars have rolled off the freeway and landed down the embankment. According to Wolf, witness to one of these accounts, two cars fell off the freeway in roughly a stretch of a year. The one that Wolf saw, after the fact, was a car that rolled off the freeway and landed in the ditch directly in front of Wolf’s house, in the 1100 block of Humboldt Street.

The work to be done

“The Lakeway southbound on-ramp will be lengthened 250 feet, widened over a length of 500 feet, and will be paved a distance of 985 feet,” said WSDOT Project Construction Engineer of the project, Mark Hammer.
According to Hammer, the construction of the four ramps will take place over two seasons. Construction is scheduled to start in July and run through September and then be completed after next year. The work will be done at night to help limit any impact the construction may have on traffic.
Working with the WSDOT has benefited the neighborhood. A barrier for safety will be built along the extension of the on-ramp.
According to Hammer, the barrier will be a combination of a guardrail and a concrete barrier and it will extend to the southern end of the on-ramp extension.

Not a new issue

However, there is no finished master plan or drawings of the construction. According to Hammer, the plan is still in review and is not finished yet.
The reconstruction of the I-5 on-ramps is part of the Fairhaven Master Plan by the WSDOT. According to the WSDOT website, the plan was created to recommend improvements to the interstate. “The plan includes a list of short- and long-term improvements to address safety problems, help relieve congestion and increase freight mobility through the year 2035. Improvements will be implemented as funding becomes available.” Currently, there is $14 million set aside for these projects.
The Fairhaven Master Plan and any construction done to and along I-5, affects residents in the neighborhood because the freeway runs along a good portion of the neighborhood.

Various types of walls available

According to Anderson, if construction is a mile or more long, a wall has to be built. If the construction is considered a special project, a wall may also be required. In order for it to be named a special project, a full noise analysis has to be done and then the project is ranked based on importance, determining if a wall is necessary either for safety or sound, according to Anderson. Then those projects are placed on a waiting list and wait for any available funding.
“[However,] it would be hard to build noise walls in all towns that have freeways in them,” Wolf said.
Anderson did her research, regarding different styles of walls and there are many different types available. One type she researched were Jersey barriers, created in New Jersey in the 1950s. These walls were built for longer cars but cars today are higher and larger and Jersey barriers aren’t the best choice for safety.
The second wall style is an Ontario wall, developed in Ontario and these seem to be better at stopping trucks but of course nothing is ever guaranteed, Anderson said. She also researched sound walls and nowhere did she find that they did not help prevent accidents, like it was thought to be the case by some.
Hammer said, there is a difference between safety walls and noise walls. “To put a barrier in, to stop vehicles from going over is the purpose of a safety wall,” said Hammer.

Neighborly help

One way Wolf sees this issue, is by making herself look on the other side of things. “We drive the cars on the freeway and we buy stuff at the stores, that the trucks carry,” she said.
“If I have a choice to drive or bike, I would bike because it is quieter for everyone involved,” Wolf added.
Support from surrounding neighborhoods would be much appreciated by the York neighborhood. According to Anderson, the York Neighborhood Association has asked to be invited to other neighborhood meetings, in order for York to gain some help and support from surrounding neighborhoods.
“No one looks out for a neighborhood better than neighborhoods do,” said Anderson. “We have to look out for those who are renting and those who are students,” Anderson added.

Future plans

The neighborhood has presented a request to the city and to council and would like to later file it down in Olympia, said Anderson. The neighborhood would like to have the City Council put this issue on their agenda, to be further looked at.
“I can’t see anything happening in 5-10 years but a few in the neighborhood are really dedicated to this project,” Anderson said, in regards to having a sound [safety] wall built.
No matter what measures the neighborhood attempts, it seems the road to a sound wall is long and extremely narrow.
“My ideal in a perfect world would be a sound wall is built to block the noise,” said Wolf. “But now a days, it’s so expensive.”

Changes suggested for the York neighborhood plan stir emotions

Proposed changes to the York neighborhood plan have been met with both agreement and disagreement by residents.

At the City of Bellingham Planning and Development meeting on April 22, emotions ran high between residents of the York neighborhood and local property owners regarding proposed amendments to the York Neighborhood Plan.
The proposed amendments affect many different areas throughout the neighborhood but most of the controversy stems from suggested changes to Area 9. Area 9 starts past Gladstone Street along Ellis and stops right before Lakeway Drive, then starts again on the other side of Lakeway along Franklin Street until Edward Street. This area is currently designated a multi residential zone.

1889, the start of the York neighborhood

“The city has not embraced the historic district of the neighborhood,” said Anne Mackie, York Neighborhood Association president.
According to Mackie, “There is a desire by some developers to bulldoze some of the historic housing and replace it with 4-story apartments or businesses.”
For the most part, the suggested changes to Area 9 affect the neighborhood density requirements. The neighborhood is seeking to reduce the density from 1,000 square feet per unit to 3,000 square feet per unit. In addition to changing the density restrictions, the neighborhood would also like to eliminate any stand-alone offices along Ellis and add mixed-use buildings. The neighborhoods’ ideal goal would be to keep the area residential and preserve the historic housing.
According to Mackie, she feels the York neighborhood is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Bellingham. The change in density requirements would limit the number of units allowed on a lot.
In regard to the neighborhoods potential density measures, Mackie said, “Three thousand is still considered high density, it just isn’t as high.”
Other areas throughout the York neighborhood have been nominated as a national historic district. The neighborhood is now putting together an application for the rest of the neighborhood, including Area 9, so the entire York neighborhood can become a national historic district of Bellingham.
“The York neighborhood is one of the oldest and still intact neighborhoods in Bellingham,” Mackie said. “We are trying to prevent the bulldozing, in order to keep the character of the neighborhood.”

Property owners against change, they see, for the worse

At the meeting, although there were supporters of the proposed changes made by the neighborhood, there were also those there who opposed the suggested changes. Property owners on Ellis Street, directly in Area 9, were concerned with the amendments and the affect the changes will have on the businesses or houses they own and rent.
Kris Clark, owner of Clark Construction on Ellis Street, who owns two properties, is one of many property owners who disagrees with the neighborhood’s proposal.
“If the city wants to promote high density and infill, changing the density is the wrong thing to do,” said Clark.
According to Clark, most of the houses in the area that will be most impacted by density changes are run down homes and are all rentals. It would be nicer to see duplexes or something there that fit more the craftsman style of housing, he added.
These density changes will not affect the structure of existing businesses but they will affect the investments of the owners.
“I bought my [2] properties as investments for my company and changing the zoning will make it so my investment is not as fruitful,” Clark said.

Bellingham’s goals to strive for

Chris Koch, a city planner assigned to review and assemble the staff report for the York neighborhood said, “In the end, the proposal that works will be easy to understand by both city employees and neighborhood residents. It is important that what’s written and adopted is understood by the community.”
Bellingham’s goal is to create a plan for the York neighborhood that works with the city’s comprehensive plan, Koch said.
Currently, there are conflicting goals within the city’s own comprehensive plan. There are contradictory statements that make it hard for easy decisions to be made. Therefore, the city has to base any decisions on priority for each individual neighborhood. Koch said, “We have to work neighborhood by neighborhood, sub-area by sub-area.”

The steps to be taken

Koch said, the process of changing neighborhood amendments usually does not take as long as it has taken the York neighborhood. Near the beginning of 2007, the York neighborhood had completely updated its plan and was ready to submit their proposal to the city. But a few conditions were placed on the process. Complete rewrites were not accepted anymore only suggestions that were of priority to the neighborhood.
By 2009, the plan was ready to be reviewed but because of the lack of staffing, the York neighborhood’s process was extended to 2010, said Koch. After the council reviews the Planning Department’s staff report, it will submit recommendations and alternatives and pass the proposal along to the city for a final decision.
Koch said, they are currently reviewing these plans and it is expected to be adopted by the end of this year.

Both sides, full of support

The York neighborhood and their association are full of passion and easily have hundreds of people that would support them in trying to better their neighborhood. “It’s rare to find dedication like that,” Mackie said.
“Our main focus is the preservation of the neighborhood,” said Mackie, “And we’re ready to pull out all the stops.”
Similarly, property owners opposed to the amendment feel the same. “We’re ready to fight to the hilt,” said Clark.

For a map, to help you locate where Area 9 is and for the current plan of the York neighborhood, click here. There is a list of all neighborhoods in Bellingham, scroll down to York.